Download History of Jazz Worksheet

Name _________________________________
Section _____________
Spirituals
In the 17th and 18th centuries Africans were captured from their native countries and forced to work
in the southern states of America as slaves. Although they did not have many personal
possessions, they did have their __________________ . Many slave owners did not allow their
slaves to speak to each other, so the slaves would communicate using ______________ and songs.
These songs, called ________________________ , were religious in nature and described hope
for a better life.
Ragtime
After slavery was abolished in 1865, many freed slaves still had trouble finding work. Some
_______________ (mixed race of white slave owners and black female slaves) had received
musical training as children and became traveling musicians. Others joined variety shows known
as vaudeville. This is where an upbeat music called __________________ became popular. It
fused African and European musical styles and used syncopated or “ragged” rhythms. “The
Entertainer” is a famous ragtime song by ___________________, an African American composer.
Blues
Blues music also originated in southern African American communities in the late 19th century. It
was a blend of African work songs, spirituals, and field chants. The blues is characterized by its
chord progression, the use of flattened or “blue notes”, and its _______________________ lyrics.
______________________ was a blues composer and musician known as the “Father of the Blues”
and greatly popularized this art form in America. ___________________________ was a famous
blues singer loved by black and white Americans.
WORD BANK
creoles
music
melancholy
spirituals
W. C. Handy
Scott Joplin
drums
ragtime
Bessie Smith
Jazz
In the early 1900s, the port city of ______________________ , Louisiana was still heavily
influenced by the ___________________ and ______________________ cultures. It also became
a culture melting pot during the early days of immigration. A new style of music called
_______________ emerged. It was similar to ragtime music, but used swung notes and
___________________________ (inventing music in the moment). As black families moved
away from the south into northern cities like New York and Chicago, jazz and blues music’s
popularity spread. By the 1920s, black and white Americans took an interest in jazz and blues.
Louis Armstrong was a famous trumpet player, singer, and jazz musician from New Orleans.
Soon jazz and blues music was recorded and broadcast across the ______________.
Ella Fitzgerald, a famous jazz singer, was known for her _____________________ (vocal
improvisation that uses non-sense syllables to imitate instruments). In the 1930s a new music
called ___________ emerged and many people attended __________________________ to hear
big bands play this popular genre. Big bands were heavily influenced by jazz music and consisted
of 12-25 musicians playing brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Cab Calloway, Duke
Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller were famous composers and big band leaders.
Over the next decades, jazz continued to evolve and a new style called ______________ emerged.
This form of jazz had fast tempos, complicated rhythms and harmonies, and virtuosic
improvisations. Charlie Parker (saxophone player) and Dizzie Gillespie (trumpet player) were
pioneers in this style.
Jazz and blues are purely ____________________ art forms and are still influencing many musical
genres today including _________________ , _________________ , and _________________ .
WORD BANK
American
improvisation
dance halls
scat singing
Spanish
hip-hop
swing
New Orleans
jazz
French
R&B
radio
bebop
pop